Protesters Gather Ahead Of 1st Presidential Debate In Cleveland

CLEVELAND — Demonstrators were out in Cleveland on Tuesday ahead of the first 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Demonstrators and the two candidates are converging in Cleveland amid heightened tensions in Ohio and across the country.

Just outside the Cleveland Art Museum, in the Wade Lagoon area, protesters held signs, and heavily armed officers could be seen patrolling the area in an effort to prevent any violence. Police briefly confiscated signs from a protest organized by the group Refuse Fascism on Martin Luther King Junior Drive before returning them after confirming they met length standards.

Wearing orange sweatshirts, the demonstrators chanted "Trump, Pence Out Now" and "Black Lives Matter" as law enforcement inspected the signs inside a police vehicle.

"We are out here to stand for all of humanity," Cheryl Lissin, a Cleveland resident with Refuse Facism, said. "For Black Americans, for immigrant women receiving forced hysterectomies and for LGBT people being pushed into oblivion.

"Voting is important, but people need to take to the streets. We will be doing daily protests in Cleveland starting Oct. 3."

Facing Wade Lagoon on the steps of the Cleveland Art Museum, hundreds of people have gathered in a protest separate from Refuse Fascism.

"We wanted to use media to bring attention to Operation Legend," said Alana Garrett-Ferguson, a Cleveland resident. "Our city council has weaponized violence in our neighborhoods but isn't allocating resources to solutions.

"Federal agents should not weaponize our communities, particularly our Black communities."

Outside the building where the debate is being held on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, one Republican voter urged people to vote for Biden.

"I want to encourage fellow Republicans to vote for Biden and against Republicans in the House and Senate," George Zadigian told Patch.

"I have protested the past three years outside the White House and Capitol. I've been a conservative for 40 years but Trump has been awful from his inauguration onward."

Walking around Wade Lagoon up the area where the debate is being held, Patch has not observed any visible Trump supporters.

Earlier in the day, the anti-abortion group Created Equal rented airplane tow banners and mobile billboards to show its support for anti-abortion measures. The group said it believes Black lives matter and the Democratic Party "do not care" about Black lives lost to abortion.

With the aftermath of the George Floyd protests for racial justice in mind, security has been stepped up in the University Circle neighborhood. The Ohio National Guard, the U.S. Secret Service, and many local police departments have been called to the area to ensure a smooth, peaceful event.